Analyzing Turkish Politics: The False Promise of the AKP

The San Diego World Affairs Council and Pacifica Institute invite you to a presentation by Ahmet Kuru where he will analyze the current state of affairs in Turkish politics.

When Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP came to power in 2002 it was promising to show the true compatibility of Islam and democracy. Erdogan pledged to make Turkey a member of the EU and to draft a new, liberal constitution. After a decade, what he did was to build a palace for himself, which cost around $ 1 billion and has about 1,500 rooms.

What explains the failure of the AKP to deliver its promises?

Ahmet Kuru is the author of Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United States, France, and Turkey (Cambridge University Press), and the co-editor (with Alfred Stepan) of Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey (Columbia University Press). His recent publications include “Authoritarianism and Democracy in Muslim Countries: Rentier States and Regional Diffusion,” Political Science Quarterly (Fall 2014).